By Ian Grant at Hamilton Island.
Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X1 did little harm to her reputation as the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race record holder when the super maxi power sailed to win the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week ‘Gun Boat’ trophy.
Both skipper Mark Richards and his talented crew including Australia 11 Americas Cup winning tactician Grant Simmer won line honours in all nine races against Investec Loyal (Anthony Bell) and Lahana (Peter Millard).
Wild Oats X1 set a high standard when they broke the 23.3 nautical mile Lindeman Island Race record on day 1.
They continued to show their superior boat speed and crew skills to leave their rival big boat crews following the power sailing wake of Wild Oats X1 on the shorter windward/leeward races.
As expected the crew faced a serious test against their heavy wind skills when a strong wind warning was issued for the 63 n/ml Double Cone Island race.
“We had some real pressure up to 32 knots on the spinnaker run across a lumpy Whitsunday Passage”. Skipper Mark Richards said.
But the big maxi continued to express the speed to draw away from her rivals and complete the course with another the impressively fast 13.36knot average.
The Wild Oats X1 crew were in a class of their own in both the short course windward leeward and Island Passage races to eventually win the line honours with a perfect score.
They were collectively too fast winning the nine race big boat arm wrestle by a little over 1 hour after almost 215 nautical miles of racing in moderate to fresh and frightening winds
“Race Week had always been part of our preparations for the Hobart Race it was tough at times but the guys produced an impressive performance” Mark Richards said. .